Cal F. Johnson

Who was Cal F. Johnson?

Knoxville's Successful Black Businessman

Cal Johnson was born in enslavement on October 18, 1844. When he died in 1925, he was one of the wealthiest men in the South. Johnson was a generous and business savvy individual who rose to fame for his ownership of Knoxville’s premier race track (now known as Speedway Circle) and some of the South’s best race horses. Locally, his name was also tied to some of the most popular saloons patronized by both Black and white citizens in Downtown Knoxville prior to the Prohibition Era, The Popular Log Saloon, The Central Popular Log Saloon, and The Lone Tree Saloon (formerly the Popular Log). To his credit, “only the best grades of whiskey and beer were served over his counters,” and his customers remembered him for having the “cleanest and nicest saloon in town.”